Chris Isaak's first DVD out after Macy's Parade gig

Today, the Stockton-born rock musician rolls along during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

Isaak won't be tossing out free copies of "Beyond the Sun Live!" while riding on Ocean Spray's Woodland Family Gathering float. The exposure can't hurt, though - 53.5 million will watch in New York and on TV (NBC, 9 a.m.). Isaak performs at Macy's Herald Square after the parade.

It'll be an abbreviated reprise of the 14-song concert that's documented on his first DVD - "Beyond the Sun Live!" is available on Blu-ray, too - during a 27-year career.

Isaak, the 56-year-old Stagg High School and University of the Pacific graduate, and his band, Silvertone, recorded the CD on Feb. 13 at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas.

It's a 56-minute hybrid of his best-known concert tunes and five songs from "Beyond the Sun," a 2011 double-CD recorded at iconic Sun Studio in Memphis, Tenn.

Recording there was like a "Grammy, gold record, million-dollar first prize," Isaak - snuggled up with his little white dog - says on the DVD. "It was tiny, but fantastic," guided by Phillips, a "genius," Isaak says.

Isaak and his band of brothers - drummer Kenney Dale Johnson, from Borger, Texas; Palo Alto guitarist Hershel Yatovitz; and San Francisco bassist Rowland Salley - are deeply dedicated to the formative music that rose above Sun Studio (Memphis Recording Service) in the 1950s.

"We don't do cheesy bar-band versions," Isaak says. "Our hearts are in it. We got it and I think we got it really good."

Much as they did during an April 6 show at Stockton's Bob Hope Theatre, they frolic through some Sun standards:

Wearing three spangled suits - but not his 60-pound coat of mirrors - and playing acoustic and electric guitars, Isaak is his usually playful, goofy self.

Isaak's between-song tall tales have been trimmed down, though he does refer to himself as the "surfin' hillbilly."

As usual, he moves easily between rat-a-tat rockabilly ("I Want Your Love"), the Bo Diddley rumble of "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing" and the crooning, broken-hearted falsetto flights ("Somebody's Crying," "You Don't Cry Like I Do") and the bereft "Wicked Game," his only top-10 single.

His sweet reminiscences about making out in the "tall grass" near Stockton's Stagg High School bring it all back home on "Best I Ever Had" - contrasting with "Blue Hotel," a seminal song of angst prompted by the suicide of a young Stockton friend.

Braata, a Stockton reggae-rock band, will have to wait until mid-January to introduce its new recording formally.

The five-member group was supposed to do that last Friday at Stockton's Waterloo Gun & Bocci Club.

However, a complaint was made - by an unspecified person or entity - and the show was canceled by the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department.

That's because the building lacked an "improvement plan for a special event," according to a spokeswoman in the county code-enforcement department.

"I'd never heard of anything like that," said Mike Tsarnas, 55, the club's general manager. "I was dumfounded."

The complaint was made Nov. 15, and county officials were prepared to issue an "over-the-counter" permit if environmental, public works and planning personnel had signed off along with the sheriff.

A sheriff's spokesman said they required 10 days to finalize such a permit after checking for security, crowd size and permits for sound, live bands and parking.

Tsarnas was mystified because the 67-year-old venue hosts weddings, receptions, dances and quinceañeras that include music. George Strait's backup band played there recently. There were outdoor music festivals in 2011 and 2012. No complaints.

"This has never occurred," said Tsarnas. "We've done this numerous times. Somebody had to make a stink to have the CHP and sheriffs come down on me."

He and Joe Flores, the concert's promoter, have begun the process of obtaining an "entertainment" permit and don't want to alienate law enforcement. Four bands were scheduled to perform with about 65 people attending.

"Friday was a crazy, crazy day," said Flores, 27, who was delivering 160 pounds of Thanksgiving food to Stockton's Emergency Food Bank when he found out about the issue. "They said it takes 30 days to approve a permit."

"I don't want to jump to any conclusions," said Tsarnas, who moved here two years ago from San Francisco. "I'm the guy they caught. Fine. This is what's required. This is what I'll do."